1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a robot apparatus, and more particularly it is suitably applied to a pet robot constructed as, for example, a four-footed animal performing autonomous, life-like actions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, a four-footed walking pet robot has been proposed and developed which performs actions in predetermined ways in response to commands from a user or depending upon local environmental conditions. Such a pet robot resembles a four-footed animal often kept in the house, such as a dog or cat. A dog-like pet robot, for example, is designed to always lie down upon receiving a command xe2x80x9clie downxe2x80x9d from the user, or to always give a xe2x80x9chandxe2x80x9d (front paw ) when the user stretches his or her hand to just under the robot""s nose.
However, such a conventional pet robot performs actions only in predetermined ways in accordance with commands from the user or local environmental conditions. Thus, the conventional pet robot does not act as an autonomous robot capable of determining, and acting upon an action by itself. In other words, the conventional pet robot does not behave as a genuine pet, and therefore has a difficulty in fully satisfying a user""s demand of obtaining a pet robot that functions as closely as possible to a genuine pet.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a robot apparatus capable of autonomously behaving in natural ways.
It is another object of the invention to provide a robot apparatus capable of learning various behaviors in response to both external and internal environmental conditions.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a robot apparatus in which the behavior of the robot apparatus is determined in accordance with an emotion model and an instinct model.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a pet robot apparatus that behaves in a manner most similar to the behavior of an actual pet.
Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification and drawings.
To achieve the above objects of the invention, a robot apparatus is provided. The robot apparatus behaves in accordance with input information supplied to the robot apparatus. The robot apparatus includes an emotion model and an instinct model, these models changing in accordance with various stimuli. A next action to be performed by the robot apparatus is determined by changing the emotion model and the instinct model based upon the input information, and the interpretation of this input information. Because the robot apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention includes the motion and instinct models linked to its actions, and because the robot apparatus decides the next action to be taken thereby by changing the emotion and instinct models based upon the input information, the robot apparatus can autonomously behave in accordance with the present emotional and instinctive states created thereby in accordance with the historical actions thereof.
Also in accordance with the invention, a robot apparatus behaving in accordance with input information supplied to the robot apparatus is provided. The robot apparatus includes an operating state deciding unit for deciding a next operating state to be changed to from a current operating state based upon the current operating state, a history of various input information having been previously supplied in succession to the robot apparatus immediately prior to the current input information, and the current input information. Therefore, the robot apparatus in accordance with the invention can autonomously behave in accordance with the emotional and instinctive states it created in accordance with the historical actions thereof.
Further, in accordance with the invention, a robot apparatus is provided that determines a next posture to be taken based upon the current physical configuration, possible future configurations, and the input information. The robot apparatus includes a posture transition unit for transitioning the current posture of the robot apparatus to a next posture in accordance with the input information via a predetermined route of steps of the mechanisms of the robot apparatus. Because the current posture of the robot apparatus is transitioned to the next posture in accordance with the input information via a predetermined route, the robot apparatus can avoid being forced to take an impossible or otherwise undesirable posture, or from falling down during the transition.
The invention accordingly comprises the several steps and the relation of one or more of such steps with respect to each of the others, and the apparatus embodying features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangement of parts that are adapted to effect such steps, all as exemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.